I need help! I am a 36 years old female and have been fighting Osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Degenerative Disc Disease for the last year. I work in customer service and sit at a desk job for 8 hours a day and the stress is tremendous. I've tried so many different anti-inflammatory drugs and pain medicines that it is crazy. I recently tried Nucynta for the pain and that was a joke. Right now I am on Lortab 7.5 up to 3 times a day along with Voltaren twice a day, 2 4 mg Zanaflex a night, and 60 mg of Cymbalta. I was able to get an adjusted schedule to 9 to 5:30 but there are some days I just can not make it in. I am currently on intermitten FMLA but was told today that my attendance and what the rheumatologist wrote down do not match. I have to go back to him to have it revised. My manager is not a nice woman (trying to be nice myself here) and has been trying to get me to leave the whole year. I have STD and LTD insurance at my job and they keep suggesting going on disability but I am scared. I don't know if I will qualify or not. I've already had one laminectomy/discetomy in 2009 to correct a problem with my sciatic nerve. I had a disc that was bulged out of place and it had it almost completely crushed so I lost a lot of feeling and was unable to walk for a few weeks. I still do not have some of the feeling in my right leg from that process.

I need suggestions on what do to. Should I tell my rheumatologist that I want to go on disability and explain to him my situation? As of now, I have the arthritis in my right hand and wrist, both feet and ankles, both knees, my whole back (severe in the low back), and neck. When I have a flare ups in my neck it causes migraines as well. So, life pretty much sucks. There are days I can not get out of bed to even take a shower much less drive to work and sit in a desk all day. I've also already did the ADA thing and they said by letting me work a flex schedule that is all they can do even though there are people in my department that work from home and I have offered to purchase a computer so I can work from home on days when I can not come into the office but they said that was not possible. I am desperate and I am afraid that because of my age that disability will not be possible. But they made it clear today that if I do not start working 40 hours a week then I will lose my job.

I also want to mention that the only complaint has been my attendance. My job knowledge and performance has never been an issue. My last evaluation was even commented on by the VP of our company.

The following 3 users give hugs of support to: AmyorainbowDobie (11-13-2011), Pshorty (12-05-2011)

I can tell you from experience that getting Social Security Disability for osteoarthritis is very hard, even with a previous back surgery. I've had OA and rheumatoid and couldn't get it even with surgeries and only got approved after breaking my neck(and I still had to fight for it). What you have to prove is that you will not be able to do any kind of job for a minimum of 2 years +.

I'd suggest you look up in the phone book, the state and federal services for people with disabilities and ask about getting re-trained for a job that is not so stressful to your body. They pay for it and then place you and will then help the employer with benefits for taking you on but at the same time, they watch the employer and make them do right by you. They may be able to force your current employer to do more and to not hassle you about your absences.

Look in your phone book under STATE services, specifically SOCIAL SERVICES. They often have an information line that can direct you to the right place. But keep calling until you find the agency that does job re-training for the disabled.

I did this and got a brand new computer with printer so I could work at home and they even set me up so I could do it from bed if needed. They sent someone to my home to teach me how to use voice recognition software so I could work on the computer hands free.

This might help you until you reach the point where you need to file for SSDI and be sick enough to actually get it without too much of a hassle. They even offer to help you with that too.